Ahead of every weekend this season I will give you my three thoughts on what’s going on in the Premier League. These might not always be the biggest stories, but rather my personal observations as the games approach each Saturday.
So, Matchday 6, here you go…
Wenger welcomes Conte into Premier League punditry hell
It’s amazing how the narrative changes week by week. Having won three straight Premier League matches, the pressure, or should I say the spotlight, is now off of Arsenal. But it was only a couple of weeks ago that Arsene Wenger was being put out to pasture, as his two-decade reign at the Gunners was being questioned and critiqued for the umpteenth time.
The Frenchman has enjoyed a week or so away from the circling vultures, as Manchester United and poor old Jose Mourinho are now taking the heat. Wenger must also realize that a United win against Leicester City this weekend in which Wayne Rooney scores five goals will force the baying masses to find another target.
An Arsenal win against a struggling Chelsea this weekend will accomplish two things: Wenger will silence his critics for another week, and he’ll throw Antonio Conte into the fire for the first time. Chelsea is winless in two league games, including that home loss to Liverpool last Friday, and had to fight back in earning a 4-2 League Cup win over Leicester. The Blues are ripe for the picking, and the wily old Wenger knows what he has to do.
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Pep following the trail Jose forged
Pep Guardiola has been at the helm of one big club or another for eight years now, and his resume includes a rather impressive six domestic league titles and two Champions League crowns.
Now then, remember the aforementioned Jose Mourinho? At the eight-year mark of his managerial career, Jose had been at five clubs, and won five league titles and a Champions League. Mourinho would soon add a treble to his resume, and around this time he was universally considered the top coach in world soccer. Thanks in large part to City’s strong start to the season, Guardiola is now being feted as a managerial messiah, much like Mourinho was at this stage of his career.
This is by no means a shot at Pep, and I still believe Jose will figure things out at United. But my point is that Pep is still relatively new to the management shuffle, and he has yet to face the adversity that experience inevitably brings.
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New breed of super manager on show?
This Saturday Bournemouth host Everton, a match featuring two managers destined for some pretty big things. Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe is the latest fresh-faced English manager in the Premier League, while Ronald Koeman is slightly more grizzled, but he is also on the way up in the managerial ranks.
There are many who believe that Howe could one day replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, a move that could happen as early as next season. Howe’s Cherries are a limited club that play above themselves and play the right way. In fact, Pep Guardiola suggested after Man City’s win over Howe’s side last week that Bournemouth was the best attacking team he had faced in England so far.
What Koeman has done with Everton is no less remarkable than what Pep has accomplished at City. Sitting second in the table and unbeaten so far, it would appear the Toffees are legitimate European contenders.
Saturday’s clash will be an interesting meeting of two of the brightest managerial minds in the Premier League.
Sportsnet’s Soccer Central podcast (featuring James Sharman, Thomas Dobby, Brendan Dunlop and John Molinaro) takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sport’s biggest issues.